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From a newbie

Now a question for the electronics wizards here. Should I make sure that components like resistors and capacitors stand a bit clear of the PCB, if so, by how much?

Like you, I used to dabble in electronics when it was all discrete components and the closest to semi-conductors back then was the newly developed MOS-FET (remember them?).

To your question - you should always stand components off the board by a small amount (say half a mill - 20 thou) to aid cooling. It's just good practice. This practice could help you elsewhere also. When you have built your device, you could test it for correct function. As I guess you know, electronics generally either fail within a short time, or go on working for a long time (provided all the components are operating within their "quiessent point"). Thus established, you could then consider encasing the unit within resin, with an aluminium foil back plate to extract any heat (although it doesn't look like an energy hungry device). This will protect it from a salty atmosphere, which sure as anything will give rise to premature failure.

Given the cost of anti foul paint (and its obvious drag coefficient on a hull) I am keen to see how this works for you.

You may well jest. I have a small soldering iron on the boat that I heat on the gas stove. It beats frigging about with one of those 12 volt ones! Not sure about using on PCBs but it might do with care.

(tip for using 12 volt soldering irons ... run the engine to boost the volts!)

Gas soldering iron

We use a gas soldering iron .. Maplins / RS .. Very quick to heat up .. Just watch the exhaust from the side of the tip . Will solder most jobs and can be used anywhere . Alternative is a cheap 240v iron and replaceable tips . Nothing complicated about soldering if everything is clean and the soldering iron is hot .